Industrial Construction with Concrete under KOMO Quality
May 14, 2025It goes without saying, but we’ll say it again anyway. The housing market is critically tight. There is no straightforward solution. Industrial construction can make a significant contribution to tackling the housing shortage and meeting construction demands. Here we are talking about factory-produced building elements to even complete homes. This article is about industrial construction with concrete under KOMO certification.
Last year, construction company Van Wijnen secured the first KOMO service certificate for the design of prefab home concepts with a concrete shell, Assessment Guideline (BRL) 2840-01.Their systematic design approach, in which the entire home design is assembled within a digital platform, represents the state of the art. As planned, Van Wijnen has since also obtained the KOMO process certificate for the assembly of prefab housing concepts with a concrete shell (BRL 2840-02). This marks a significant milestone for the construction sector, demonstrating that high-quality, affordable building is indeed possible. Alex Diender, Director of Smart Assembly at Van Wijnen, enthusiastically states: “We can now say that our new way of building is fully certified, from design and production to final assembly! Independent assessments have confirmed that our processes are so well-controlled and documented that they don’t need to be re-verified by a quality assurer for every project. This leads to faster project turnaround and lower costs. It’s a major achievement that the entire team has worked hard for—and one we’re very proud of!”
Shell elements
Bart Dijkstra, Certification Engineer at Kiwa, states: “In addition to the KOMO service certificate BRL 2840, there are other KOMO certifications for industrial construction with concrete.One example is the KOMO attestation based on BRL 0902.This attestation demonstrates that an independent expert organisation, such as Kiwa, has assessed the performance of a building system with a structural concrete frame. Broadly speaking, this concerns the shell elements of a building.”
As an independent certification body, Kiwa is responsible for assessing (admission and periodic inspections) of products, construction processes, services and management systems under the KOMO-BRL.
MSB Hybrid | Image: Van Wijnen
Hybrid construction
Jeroen Pos, Product Manager Business Development at Kiwa, explains how different certifications can come together in practice: “In BRL 2840, we evaluate the standard design of a complete shell property based on all aspects of the Building Environment Decree, as well as the requirements outlined in the KOMO Assessment Guideline. A component of that home may be a load-bearing concrete structure. Let’s say a contractor sources these structural concrete components from a supplier that holds a KOMO attestation under BRL 0902. The contractor then assembles the components, adds an exterior façade, completes the interior and installs a roof. The in-situ construction process that follows delivery of the shell elements under BRL 0902 can then be certified according to BRL 2840. We call this a hybrid construction method.”
Benefits of prefab construction
Prefab construction offers a wide range of benefits, primarily due to the fact that components are manufactured in a controlled factory environment. This results in faster construction on-site, consistent quality, reduced material waste and lower costs.
Additionally, concrete is strong and fire-resistant. Good sound and thermal insulation can be achieved in a factory setting and the material is easy to process. Overall, prefab construction offers solutions for modern, safe and sustainable buildings, infrastructure and other structural projects.
